Top corporate deals

Coats Viyella MBOEversheds advised Coats Viyella on the sale of its clothing division to a third party. Chaffe Street was originally advising the prospective purchaser after a referral from Eversheds. When the initial interested party pulled out, Chaffe Street was retained by the management buyout team which stepped in to buy the company for £12m, securing an estimated 3,000 jobs.Eversheds, was led by Daniel Hall. The Chaffe Street team was led by Robert Street and Mark Brandwood.Manchester Airport acquisitionIn the largest deal ever undertaken in the UK airports sector, Pannone & Partners advised Manchester Airport on its £241m acquisition of East Midlands and Bournemouth airports from National Express Group.Steven Grant led the Pannone team. The deal was funded by the Royal Bank of Scotland for whom Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted, led by banking partner Nick Bliss. Clifford Chance, led by Chris Wyman, advised Manchester Airport on funding. An Ashurst Morris Crisp team led by Shaun Lascelles advised the National Express Group.Take-private of Peter Black HoldingsAddleshaw Booth & Co corporate finance partner Richard Lee led a team advising 3i, and also acted as joint adviser to the newly formed bid vehicle.The £304m deal, effected through a cash offer to Peter Black Shareholders with a loan note alternative, returned Keighley-based Peter Black Holdings to private hands. It is one of seven public-to-privates that Addleshaws has advised on in the last 12 months. Eversheds corporate finance partner Rob Pitcher advised Peter Black.Warthog flotationThis is the first AIM flotation of 2001. Cheadle-based Warthog's share placing valued the interactive entertainment company at £18m and raised gross proceeds of £5m. Warthog was advised by Halliwell Landau, led by Nigel Brown. Eversheds' Neil Matthews advised the issuer.Acquisition of the Phone PeopleBread and butter work for Wacks Caller and Chaffe Street. Manchester-based millionaire Mike Bahbout snapped up this mobile phone company for £3m four months after it collapsed into administration and 12 months after it was the subject of a £30m takeover bid. Wacks Caller, led by corporate partner Andrew Smithson, advised the buyer. Chaffe Street, led by ShâSpencer, advised the administrators.UK record signing for Manchester United FCThe sports law team at James Chapman & Co advised Manchester United on the £28.1m signing of Juan Sebastian Veron from Italian club Lazio. It is the second record UK signing the firm has advised on, following Ruud Van Nistelrooy's £19m move to Manchester earlier this year. Senior partner and head of the sports law team Maurice Watkins led the team.Octel Resources' acquisition of CP Manufacturing BVOne of three acquisitions Hammond Suddards Edge has advised Octel on in the past six months. This involved the acquisition of two companies – CP Manufacturing BV in the Netherlands and CP3500 International Inc in Greece, Singapore and the British Virgin Islands. Stephen Levy led the Hammonds team on the £12m deal. Nexus solicitors, led by Stephen Isherwood, advised CP Manufacturing BV and CP3500 International.Sale of Kennedy ConstructionThe £52.2m sale of Kennedy Construction to Alfred MacAlpine is symptomatic of the increasingly popular practice whereby owners not directly involved in a business, here a family trust, use insurance when giving guarantees in the sale of that business. A DLA team led by partner Stephen Devlin in Liverpool advised the management team at Kennedy Construction. Mark Warburton at Addleshaw Booth & Co advised the holders of the trust, PJ Kennedy Investments.French acquisition by Carphone WarehouseIn one of a number of recent cross-border deals, DLA advised on the Carphone Warehouse Group's acquisition of French telecoms services company Communications De Mobile Cellulaires SA for £54m. The deal is seen as important to the development of Carphone Warehouse's European business.